Gazpromtrubinvest commissions 16″ HF pipe welding line from SMS group

At its pipe works in Volgorechensk in the Kostroma region, Gazpromtrubinvest has successfully commissioned a 16″ high-frequency pipe welding line supplied by SMS group. The new line has been designed for an annual capacity of up to 300,000 tons.

It produces pipes within an outside diameter range from 127 to 426 millimeters. The maximum wall thickness is 15 millimeters. The pipes will be used as casing pipes in oil and gas exploration. The new line enables Gazpromtrubinvest to produce high-grade casing pipes to API 5CT up to N 80.

Highlights of the line include a cross welding table featuring the innovative PERFECT arc® welding technology, proven URD® (Uniform Rigidity Design) forming and sizing stands, a solid-state HF generator type Eloweld™ 1200 and a 2,800 kW EloSeam MF seam annealing unit.

The pipe welding line supplied by SMS group is extremely flexible and efficient thanks to the inline and offline quick change systems in combination with the horizontally replaceable URD® stands. The high rigidity of the URD® stands is a key requirement for reliably achieving the extremely exacting tolerances specified for those high-grade, thick-walled casing products. The CSS Quicksetting® system, which supports the quick change system by operating with database supported settings, will lead to a constant improvement in product quality and speed up product changes as the rolls can be set automatically and with a high degree of reproducibility. Thus a size change - considering the time until the first good product has been rolled - can take place in less than two hours. Another special feature of the line is the use of individual roll drives, i.e. the top and bottom rolls of all main stands can be driven and controlled separately. This design has very positive effects on the quality and the line speed, and hence on the productivity of the entire plant.

source: SMS Group